Recently I read a book that in some ways left me more sad than glad.
True, it did have a good ending, but the journey was often sad. The book is “Pistol: The Life of Peter Maravich.” Most of you are too young to remember him. Plain and simple, he was one of a kind and well ahead of his time. He has been voted one of the fifty greatest players in the history of all basketball. That says it all.
The book is about Pete, his life, and his growing up years with his father. For most of Pete’s life his father, Press, was his coach. From the earliest beginnings of Pete’s life, his father had him marked to be a basketball player, not just any player, but the greatest ever. One of the saddest statements I found in the book comes after a game in which Pete had played and his team lost. Pete would often go off to be completely alone for long periods of time and often weeping for hours on end and walking home alone.
The author said it this way, “Press had never devised a drill for his son to deal with defeat. Pete took all defeats personal and hard.” I thought how sad it is that he never taught his son how to deal with loss. It makes no difference who we are, prince or pauper, sooner or later in life we are gonna lose at something.
“All the shots won’t go in the basket, and all of us will experience walking home alone.”
Losing and dealing with defeat and adversity is a lesson we all need to learn and be taught, generally the sooner the better.
By the way, I saw Pete play on a few occasions. He was something special.
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March 18, 2011
Keep on,
Larry Adamson